


Three Continents and Many Nations

by sanguinity



Category: Elementary (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen, The Joan Watson Fanclub
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-16
Updated: 2013-07-16
Packaged: 2017-12-20 09:39:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/885760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanguinity/pseuds/sanguinity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"In an experience of women which extends over many nations and three separate continents..." <i>— The Sign of the Four</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Three Continents and Many Nations

Before her knuckles hit wood, a man with a manic grin swung the door wide. "And you must be Eun Jung! I'm Sherlock Holmes, Watson's partner. Come in, come in, Watson has told me almost nothing about you. _Watson!"_ He bellowed the last back over his shoulder at the stairs.

Eun Jung stepped inside. "Didn't she? She's always been full of secrets, that one. You, for example! She didn't tell me," she leaned around him to shout up the stairs, " _—that she had a partner!"_

He drew her into a room at the front of the brownstone. "You were roommates during your residency, yes? Start at the beginning and tell me everything."

 _"Don't you tell him a thing!"_ There was a tumble of footsteps from the stairs, and Joanie burst into sight. She had hardly changed: her features had become a bit sharper over the past decade, but that was all. Joanie shot Sherlock a mock glare and strode over to wrap Eun Jung in a hug. "Eun Jung! God, look at you."

"And you!"

Joanie pushed Eun Jung out to arms' length, and her eyes fell on the bottle of wine. "Oh! I'm sorry, I should have said, we don't drink."

"I don't drink; she does," Sherlock clarified, and Joanie, clearly startled, looked a question at him. "Alfredo and I discussed it," he added.

Joanie nodded slowly. "All right, then." She turned to Eun Jung with a wry smile. "He's probably hoping I'll get tipsy and say something indiscreet."

"Of course I am. How often do I get to meet someone from your mysterious past?"

She rolled her eyes. "Didn't you have somewhere to be tonight?"

He bounced on his toes. "Precisely here, Watson, watching you wax nostalgic for your hard-working youth."

 

 

All through dinner, Sherlock praised Joanie to Eun Jung, which struck her as faintly ridiculous: as if she didn't know that Joanie would be brilliant at anything she set her heart to? However, it was a comfort to discover that Joanie's new partner clearly thought the world of her: that, at least, had survived the collapse of her surgical career.

Sherlock was working on his second bowl of ice cream, the two women leisurely making their way through the last of the wine, when he leaned over to Eun Jung. "You'll admit, I've been quite generous with the wild, thrilling tales of Watson's most recent exploits. It's only fair that you reciprocate with your stolen moments of homoerotic amour in hospital supply closets."

" _Sherlock!"_ Joanie snapped, as Eun Jung burst into laughter. "I am so sorry," Joan apologized to her. "He is obsessed with my having a secret lesbian past."

Eun Jung considered the two of them for a moment: whatever was between them wasn't romantic. "You mean you haven't told him about, oh, what was her name? That leggy redhead from Amsterdam. Built like a beanstalk, she was, and gorgeous. Showed up on the stoop one day with a huge backpack and the shyest smile you ever saw, eyes for nobody but our Joanie here."

" _Eun Jung,_ " Joanie hissed.

Eun Jung laughed. "Remind me, what was her name? Karen?"

Joanie twitched in exasperation. " _Karin._ And she doesn't count. It wasn't like that, and you know it."

"Watson, for shame. What would the lovely Karin think to hear you say that?" He turned back to Eun Jung. "There was a count?"

"Only in the loosest sense."

"Eun Jung, don't you dare."

Eun Jung took another sip of her wine, drawing out the moment.

Joanie huffed, and stood to gather their plates. "If you're going to do this, I don't have to sit here and listen to it."

Sherlock considered Joanie's back, but seemed to agree with Eun Jung that she wasn't seriously put out. He turned back to Eun Jung. "In the loosest sense?" he prompted.

"This was mostly after our residency, you understand, because who has the time? But every so often, there would be some gorgeous young man on the doorstep, someone she had met at a surgical conference or something, visiting the city for a week and absolutely _smitten_ with Joanie. They came across the _world_ to see her. Remember that lovely Nigerian orthopedist?" she called to Joanie, and turned back to Sherlock. "Enchanting manners, beautiful accent."

"Yele," Joanie provided. "And he most certainly _did not._ He was here for a conference."

"Uh-huh."

Joanie rolled her eyes. "It's New York. Sooner or later, everyone comes to New York."

Eun Jung leaned over to Sherlock. "If she lived in Wisconsin, they still would have come to see her. _Karin_ would have come to Wisconsin. 'Three Continents Joanie,' we called her."

"Watson. I had no idea." He looked put out.

"Oh, c'mon, did you think _you_ founded the Joan Watson fanclub?" Eun Jung asked. Sherlock's face twitched, and Eun Jung didn't bother hiding her laughter.

"And I told _you_ ," Joanie said to Eun Jung, "it wasn't like that with Karin."

"It was with Johannes, though."

Joanie declined to argue the point.

"Europe, Africa, and North America, I take it."

"Europe, Africa, and _South_ America," Eun Jung corrected. "North America doesn't count."

"João was platonic!"

"And yet he came all that way to see you."

Joanie threw up her hands. "It was an international specialty and I just happened to live at a global nexus, but yes, fine, have it your way. Men flocked to New York from _three continents_ because they were _besotted_ with me. Are you pleased with yourself?" She downed the last of the wine.

"Very," Eun Jung smirked.

"Three Continents Joanie," Sherlock mouthed to himself.

Joanie shuddered. "Oh, god, don't do that. It's weird when _you_ say it."

Sherlock contemplated his bowl. "I know a brilliant researcher at McMurdo station," he mused. "Lovely man."

"Sherlock!" Joanie's ponytail swung. "What did I say about arranging dates for me?"

"I don't know, Watson. Was it one of those times I agreed with you?"

Joanie growled in aggravation, and Eun Jung laughed. "You'll be sure to let me know when she bags her fourth continent, yes?"

"Oh, it would be both my duty and my honor." He glanced across at his partner, and Eun Jung caught a moment of affection between them. "After all, there are traditions that must be kept."


End file.
